Percussion-fuse.



No.. 766,022. PATBNTED JULY 26, 1904.

A. T. DAWSON & L. SILVERMAN.

lPERGUSSON FUSE.

' APPLICATION FILED JAN. 7. 1904. NO MODEL.

" mil/lll ffl iUNTTnn STAT'ns llATnNT @Trina ARTHUR Tnnvon DAwson AND Louis siLvnnMAN, or wnsTMiNsinn, nNeLAND, Assienons 'ro violines Ns-a MAXIM, LIMITED, oF

WVESTMINSTER, ENGLAND.

PERGUSSEONHFUSE,

SPECIFECATON forming part of Letters Patent No. 766,022, dated July 2.6, 1904. Application lled January 7,1904. Serial No. 188,096. (No model.)

To all whom, t mfr/y erf/werft:

Be it known that we, ARTHUR Tnnvon' DAW- SON, lieutenant of the Royal Navy, director and superintendent of Ordnance N Orks1 and 5 Louis SiLvnRnAN, engineer, both subjects of the King of Great Britain, residing at 32 Victoria street, TVVestininster, in the county of London, England, have invented certain new and useful Yimprovements Relating to Percus- Io sion-Fuses` of which the following is a specilication.

This invention relates to percussionnt'uses, and has special reference to thosevof the kind in which-the pellet is mounted on a tiring-pin I5 having a protuberance or swelling which is adapted to yield under the lateral compression due to the longitudinal movement or sett-ing back of the pellet on shock of discharge. The said' firing-pin has heretofore consisted 2o of a cylindi ical wire pointed at one end and recessed at the other end. The protuberance or swelling has beenv formed by longitudinally slitting said pin at the desired part and laterally expanding the metal by opening the slit,

2 5 and the recessed end el the pin has been loosely received in a cavity in the base ot' the fuse-body. The object oi.' having the recessed end on the pin is to enable said end to expand by the stress resulting lroiu the setting`back 3o of the pellet on shock o't' discharge, so as to temporarily lock the said pin to the fuse-body with sufficient firmness to prevent it and the pellet from changingtheir position after the setting' back, but not so fir-mb as to prevent 35 the pin and pellet from advancing b v their momentum to tire the detonator and explosive charge on impact olil the projectile. lVith fuses oi' this construction it is necessaryv that the aforesaid tiring-pin shall be velgvcareliully 40 made and that proper regard shall be had to the' resistance oli'ered by the protulmrance to compression and the recessedend to expansion when the pellet sets back/*that is to say, a particular ratio should exist between this compression and expansion in order that the expansion shall talco place prior to the completion ot the compression; otherwise it might happen that the setting l pellet would occur withoutloching the liringback of thepin to the fuse or that it would lock the liringpin without'efectually compressing the protuberance. In either of these cases unsatisfactory results would be likely to arise in connection with the action of the fuse.

^ lt is the chief object of this invention to overcome the above-stated objections without' requiring any more care in the manufacture of the 'fuse than hashitherto been requisite. According to our invention we make the portion of the tiring-pin that is to be formed with the aforesaid protuherance -of rectangular cross-section, and this portion is slit in two directions at right angles to each other, V each slit being' longitudinal with respect to the firing-pin and opened or separated, as before. This formation renders the comp-ression of the protuberance much more easy of' accomplishinent by the setting back of the pellet than would be thecase if only one slit were provided. Nloreover, the' cross-section 70 or shape of the pin at this part is symmetrical --that is to say, it is not wider in one direction than the other--so that the pellet cannot wabble on the pin, it would be possible for it to do if said pin had only one slit to .forni the protuberance, because in the latter,

case the cross-sectional shape of the pin at the protuberance would be wider in one direction than in the other. so that there would not be an even' support for the pellet falling around 3G the pin. 'lhen in order to avoid the contingency above stated with regard tothe compression olI the protuberance --taling place prior lo the locking of the firing-pin to the vfuse-body it becomes necessary to facilitate S5 the expansion of the rear end. of theliringpin or to insure that a less amount ot' expansion than heretofore shall be sul'lieient to lock the pin to the fuse-l od v. For this purpose we make the cavity in the fuse-body for the reception ot' the rear end of the tiring-pin undercut or conical, and we preferably transversely split the rear end ofthe liring-pin where it enters said cavity, in which case lthe cavity has a convex projection at its bottom. ln sonic cases we forni the wall ,of theA cavity with serrations o r the like.

ln the accompanying drawings we have with the convex shown several forms of our improved fuse constructed in accordance with this invention.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section, and Fig. 2 a cross-section, on the line 1 1 of one form of the said fuse. Figs. 3, 4, and 5 are longitudinal sections oi the said fuse, showing modifications.

Like letters' of reference indicate similar parts in .all the figures.

-Ais the firing-pin; B, the pellet; C, the fusebody, and D the detonator. The protuberance c@ of said firing-pin is in each case of square cross-section and has two longitudinal slots t2 L2 at right angles to each other, as shown best'in Fig. Q. The forward part that bears the firing-point and the inner end that enters the cavity c in the fuse-body are both of circular cross-section. By reason of the aforesaid square cross-section of the protuberance it will be evident on inspection of Fig. 2 that the pellet is evenly supported thereby, which would not be the case if the cross-section of the protuberance were of the shape that would be produced by making it with only one slit.

In Figs. 1, 4:, and thesaid double-slotted tiring-pin has its rear end channeled at a' to form a cup-shaped piece a3 at the extreme end thereof. On shock of discharge and the consequent setting back of the pellet B the double-slotted protuberance a will be laterally compressed, and of such compression the said cup-shaped vend will be Vcrushed and will expand radially to fill up the undercut or conical cavity c in the v fuse-body, thus temporarily locking theriringpin to said fuse-body. On shock of impact the firing-pin and its pellet will advance by their momentum, whereby the firing-pin will disengage itself from the cavity c by laterally compressing its expanded end as it leaves the undercut cavity c under the influence of the momentum, and thus the point of the firingpin will strike the charge.

In Fig. 3 the inner end of the double-slotted tiring-pin is slotted in two directions at right angles to form prong-like pieces nf, which at the point ra'r, Where they join the tiring-pin, are weakened by slightly removing the metal to aid them' in laterally expanding or moving outward with respect to each other. The betteln of the cavity f: is made projection c, which on shock of discharge and during the setting back of the pellet B will cooperate with the pronglike pieces /L to assist them to move outwardly and tightly fit the wall of the said undercut or conical cavity for temporarily locking the pin to the fuse-body, as aforesaid. On shock of impact the firing-pin and its pellet will advance by their momentum, thereby liberating the firing-pin from the cavity rf by laterally compressing the prong-like pieces nl j and enabling the tiring-pin to collide with the before the completion detonator l) and fire the detonator D to re the charge, as. explained in connection with Figs. 1 and 2. y

'InFigz 4 the said inner end of the tiringpin is formed similarly to that in Fig. 1; but the cavity c instead of being plain, as in Figs. l and 3, is serrated, so as to impart to it an additional pin when the pellet of discharge.

In Fig. 5 the firing-pin is like that in Fig. 1, but is made long er at its Jforward portion,

so as to act 1n conJunction with the pellet as B is set lback on shock a guide to keep the firing-pin truly4 central with respect to the detonator D. In Fig. i we have shown the invention applied 'to a point-fuse instead of to a base-fuse, as in the forms illustrated by the other figures.

What we claim, and desire to secure by Let' ters Patent of the United States, is-

1. ln a percussion-fuse, the combination with the fu se-body having an undercut cavity at its base, of a firing-pin adapted to loosely fit said cavity at its rear end, a rectangular protuberance on said firing-pin formed by a plurality of longitudinal and expanded slits situated at right angles to each other, a percussion-pellet normally surrounding the point of the iringpin, and means whereby on shock of discharge andthe consequent setting back of the pellet to arm-the fuse, the firing-pin will be' laterally expanded and temporarily locked in said cavity but will' becomeA laterally compressed again to liberate the 4tiring-pin on shock of impact substantially as and for the purpose described.

2. lna percussion-fuse, the combination with the fuse-bod y having an undercut cavity at its base, of a firing-pin adapted to loosely iit said cavity at its rear end, serrations on the wall lof said cavity, a rectangular protuberance on said firing-pin formed by a plurality of longitudinal and expanded slits situated at right angles to each other, a percussion-pellet normally surrounding the point of the tiringpin, and means where-.by on shock of discharge and the consequent setting back of the pelletl to arm the fuse, said rear end of lthe firingpin will be laterally expanded and temporarily saidrear end ot holding power on the firing- IIO locked in said cavity but will become laterally l compressed again to liberate the firing-pin on shock of impact substantially and for the purpose described.

3. 1n apercussion-fuse, thecombination with the fuse-body having an undercut cavity at its base, of afiring-pin formed with pronglike pieces at its rear end which is adapted to loosely iit said cavity. a rectangular protuberance on said firing-pin formed by a plurality of longitudinal and expanded slits situated at right angles to each other, a percussion-pellet normally surrounding the point of the tiringpin, and means whereby on shock of discharge and the consequent setting back of the pellet to arm the fuse, said prong-like pieces of tle liring-pin will laterally expand and be temporarily locked in said cavity but will become laterally compressed again to liberate the ring-pin on shockl of impact substantially as and for the purpose described.

4. In a percussion-fuse, lthe combination with the fuse-bodyhaving an undercut cavity at' its base, of a firing-pin transversely slit in two directions to form prong-like pieces at its rear end which is adapted' to loosely t said IO cavity, a rectangular protuberance on said ring-pin formed by a pluralityof longitudinal .and expanded slits situated at right angles to eachother, a percussion-pellet normally surrounding the point of the firing-pin, a convex I5 projection on the base of said cavity adapted to assist the prong-like pieces at the end of the firing-pin to .laterally expand on shock of discharge for temporarily locking the iringpin in said cavity from which it` will become liberated again on shock of impact substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof we have hereunto set our hands, in presence of two subscribing witnesses, this 21st day of December, 1903.

ARTHUR TREVOR DAWSON.. LoUis SLLVERMAN.

Witnesses:

HENRY KING, C. A. SEARLE. 

